Can fear cause an uncontrolled action, or can we control our feelings?.
Fear is the most dangerous feeling that mankind can experience, but it is also the greatest motivator.
"The Tell-Tale Heart", a short story that was written by Edgar Ellen Poe is dealing with fear and its scathing results.
The protagonist was not led by his logical mind anymore, but by his own, horrible fear.
There was no cause for the narrator to assassinate his neighbour "He had never wronged me. [ ] For his gold I had no desire. [ ] I think it was his eye" .
Just this belief led him to commit the crime. As he had been visiting the neighbour every night, his fear grew continuously. His only way to conquer his fear was to eliminate the reason for his horror. But even when he sneaked in the room to kill his neighbour, he was chased by his horror: "I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. [ ] It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe".
The Protagonist's insanity grew, as he thought to hear the neighbour's Heartbeat. He was scared, that it was so loud, that the neighbours could hear him. But it is quite obvious, that it was his own heart that was beating. .
Suddenly, there was no pulsation any more, no sound - nothing. It was absolutely calm. The period of his terrible horror is replaced by a short period of satisfaction, since the cause for his misfortune was abolished, he murdered the man with the suspicious eyes: "Yes, he was stone, stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.".
The fear of the protagonist vanished, as he fulfilled his duty. That helped him to settle down and to become more self-possessed. He even smiled when the police came in to search for evidence. .
But suddenly the narrator was overcome by fear again - The worst fear, he ever felt. He could hear the dead man. All his attempts to hide his trepidation were unsuccessful. His conversation with the policemen was very frenzied, because he wanted to drown out the voice he heard in his mind.